 "Irfan Pathan will not be seen doing commentary during IPL 2025. Image: Irfan Pathan on X")
Irfan Pathan has reportedly been dropped from the commentary team for the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 season . The former India all-rounder Irfan Pathan has been a regular on Star Sports for many years as an expert but he will not be seen during IPL 2025 as “broadcasters were not happy with him bringing in personal grudges on-air and even on his social media handle.”
Why Pathan was dropped from Star Sports?
“Pathan had a fallout with a couple of players a few years ago. Since then, he has not shied away from referring to them aggressively. The matter was raised that other junior players got caught in the crossfire. He has been accused of taking potshots at them on social media platform even if he didn’t name them,” a BCCI source told the Times of India.
Pathan, meanwhile, has launched his own YouTube channel named ‘Seedhi Baat With Irfan Pathan’. The announcement of the news YouTube channel came on 22 March, the day IPL 2025 kicked off with a match between defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders and Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) .
If the reported reasons are true, this wouldn’t be the first time a former cricketer lost a commentary contract for being critical of active players.
Former Sanjay Manjrekar had seen his commentary contract dropped by BCCI for India’s ODI series against South Africa in 2020 after his “bits and pieces” remark against Ravindra Jadeja during the 2019 ODI World Cup.
Impact Shorts
View All“I have always considered commentary as a great privilege, but never an entitlement. It is up to my employers whether they choose to have me or not & I will always respect that. Maybe BCCI has not been happy with my performance of late. I accept that as a professional,” Manjrerkar had said on social media back then.
In 2016, Harsha Bhogle was excluded from the IPL commentary panel.
“I still don’t know why I am not doing the IPL. I can accept the fact that people don’t like me. But I genuinely hope it isn’t because cricketers have complained about what I have to say,” Bhogle had written on social media.